>> good afternoon. i am melissa frances. >> i am more rothman. of the economy adds 155,000 new jobs the unemployment rate is unchanged at seven point*% but the market is not thrilled. >> one of the nation's largest construction firms had job openings but nobody to fill them.

says ceo joins us from kansas city. lori: white take-home pay may be less than previously thought. melissa: president hugo chavez to be sworn in their reports are swirling he may be losing his battle with cancer. now it is time for stocks with nicole petallides at new york stock exchange with the jobs report. >> it looks good. holding above 13,000 ford -- 30,400 with the dow jones industrial average. obviously what a nice run. kicking off 2013 beautifully. helping the 401k to soar. do not get ahead of ourselves but it is now better than expected. but it is the right

direction. look at some names of the banking index morgan stanley and goldman sachs are pulling back but they did upgrade city group and with the housing we band of -- route rebound and over a deutsche bank we have seen them do well today. they are up 45% each. lori: said job numbers are in job creation was in line with expectation the revision has the country holding steady. they actually revised the unemployment rate. now let's go to washington with peter barnes. and yesterday's adp report

set the bar to high. >> i heard that from some analysts today coming in at 225. people thought that would be a higher number but it was on expectations but one place was with hurricane sandy rebuilding. construction added 30,000 jobs last month. manufacturing up 25,000. may be replacing cars that were damaged. food services was up 30,000 items think that is related but the government was cutting down. the president's top economist said the

resolution of the first part of the fiscal cliff battle should help job creation. >> the actions congress took is a step in that direction. we extended tax cuts that 98 percent of the families. they would see a $2,200 tax increase this week had congress not acted. that should provide some help for the economy. >> but washington needs to reduce spending and deficit and speaker been ears said the oversized and overspent federal government is a drag and has printed page burden to every american with a $50,000 share of its debt and rising. lori: the government dropped

workers is that do criticism with largess didn't government? melissa: construction was interesting but we will talk about that later. melissa: the number and the jobs report nobody talks about 22 million unemployed or underemployed it has been unchanged from november bright and westbury joins us now why hiring is not stronger so far we were rolling rise at that the unemployment rate was revised you often don't see that. this month they can say it is not changed from last month. am i too cynical? >> seven point* 8 percent unemployment is awful.

if it is close at eight everybody knows someone who is out of a job or has a family member out of a job. we're not in a good spot. government is too big. imagine a resource. the jockey weighs 112 pounds but when government is big we have a 200-pound jockey. it cannot win and runs slower. higher unemployment rate. slower economic growth rate. lori: i want to come in to follow up with the government largess. government hiring slowdown but not enough to make a difference?

and chang -- of a change in the right direction? >> that is one size of government. we have a huge government with employment. losing 15,000 jobs is a drop in the bucket. we need to look how much the government spends and redistributes. that is what takes away our dynamism, the benefits for new technologies. we have the clout, a smart phone, said tablet, natural gas, oil, fracking. the economy is not benefiting like did in the 1990's growing 4%. melissa: that is true. we don't see the benefits.

to put into perspective out 155,000 per month it would take 19 years to get back at 4%. that is the natural rate. 19 years? >> the only way to get back to 4% is if we shrink the size of government. that is the burden today. data continues to this economy. moving slow, benefiting from technologies but not enough. lori: but we have seen wage growth. not much maybe that is a drop in the bucket but it is a good trend.

>> we have spent the most optimistic forecasters are of the economy. people looking for a double-dip, recession, a depression. we thought we would avoid it. 33 months of job growth, wage growth is up, consumer debt burden is down. no reason to expect a recession in 2013. i think we will have double-digit gains. we have been too down on the economy. we could be doing better. we are doing fine. when people say are fine but they are not the. [laughter]

melissa: thank you so much. lori: day good way to put it. the first payday for americans than many will see less than they thought. we have jeff flock in illinois with more. >> you'd be surprised how many people have no idea this is happening. did you know, that your taxes went up today? >> no. did you know, ? >> i had no idea. >> i a college student. >> your taxes did not. >> i have a college graduate but i am a waitress. >> but you did not know you are paid different amount

each week? >> yes spinet didn't know if it is a percentage. if you make $50,000 you will be hit $1,000. >> but you will take a hit. so go back to college to get a job. >> i am getting a master's degree. i work at a restaurant so i can go shopping. [laughter] >> i will let you go do that. many people have their heads down they heard the fiscal cliff compromise was reached but did nothing say had

anything to worry about. melissa: a lot of people realizing their check is a lighter. the rollback of the payroll tax and. lori: obamacare increase. melissa: and locate your paycheck also health care contribution went up. check your paycheck. lori: end of the sec has dropped the case against berkshire hathaway against the former deputy under investigation for insider trading after he sold shares shortly before berkshire hathaway agreed to buy it. is claiming just spoke with warren buffett he said "it is odd when you get the

phone call were they say you did not do what you know, you did not do. i am thrilled they made the conclusion that they did. with criminal have the conclusion today on the closing bell. recovery efforts are about to get a boost from hurricane sandy. and job openings but no one to fill them. melissa: coming up next the ceo of a major construction company. we will be right back. ♪

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lori: it has been 15 minutes since we checked with nicole petallides at new york stock exchange. eli lilly the big winner? >> with get the drug stocks doing very well certainly a stellar performer today because of an outlook surpassing what people had hoped. 2012 was tough with patent expirations but looked up along church.

the five-year chart. this stark was under 30 bucks. it has been climbing slow and steady. melissa: one of the of largest construction firms have openings for electricians and concrete experts but struggling to find qualified workers. the ceo is also a former fed chairman of kansas city believes they can get people back to work but they need to learn practical skills. was talk about the opening set your company. 30,000 retired last month the you have opening this better not filled? we feel so many were hurt network during the construction boom now sitting on the sidelines.

>> look at our industry over four years. we went through a deep recession as an industry. it was not unusual to see the drop of 30% of volume growth was at 10% and another 10% in 2013. melissa: electricians, a concrete experts, how long have your openings been opened? it is hard to imagine. >> we have 2500 employees and would expect engineers, designers, a field workers, adding 250 employees over the next year. we believe the corner hafez turn to and the drop is at the lowest point* but we see

the beginning of a rebound for project managers. melissa: you cannot find them? >> we're looking. aggressively looking for the white -- right people to recruit the best. but look at the industry that has 30 percent of the workforce and disappear, that is presenting challenges. we're proactive at universities that produce engineers. lori: what would you say to the kids going to college? what should they be studying? >> we see a huge need for engineering. that is extremely important but we see it in every

industry. those who have to make a career decision engineering looks very promising for the near future. melissa: interesting. we appreciate your time. lori: we hear that the workers are not trained pot -- properly. the treasury bond check and outlook and interest rates coming up. melissa: patrick purses goliath his new business is coffee taking on starbucks coming up. initiated.

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>> a 15 year-old pakistan a girl shot in the head by the caliban has left the hospital today. targeted by the tears before promoting girls' education

in her native pakistan. she plans to live with her parents while she continues treatment. the flu outbreak continues to spread across the united states. 41 states reporting widespread influenza activity up from 31 last week. the still too early to see when the seasonal peak. barack obama said chooses chief justice john roberts to swear him in on jittery 20th and at the inauguration ceremony chief justice of the mayor will lead minister vice president biden's oath of office. >> k.k. of 2013 with a market rally but our guest today we'll talk about the bonds between the job numbers in the fiscal cliff

what can we expect for the of what? we have senior vice president of fixed income of four ltv all research. what is your take these days? >> we have a sell-off to ring in the new year but you will get a sell-off like this it is the low yield environment for 2013. >> the highest level of eight months but bonds come so fast so quickly it is a big change. >> it is. it does not take much to get a sell-off. yield over the long term but we have another congress

coming to keep treasury supported. lori: we heard from moody's warning congress to get its act together. warning of another downgrade. what about the treasury market's? >> there is of moderate probability from moody's and would not expect another one from the s&p but don't expect much market impact. we have done an analysis and there is no yield change one week after or three months after. looking at the market opinion of credit quality but treasuries are safe with solo credit default swap spread. even though it is a probability.

lori: the fomc minutes were accommodative but their rates rose and it was an overreaction. how much clout does the fed still have? >> it is influential but i agree. for nike and the other members will rule the day to a search easy policy on the market. so i don't think this is the big change from the fed but last time the fed removed stimulus qe2 in 2011 treasury rates fell following those examples but we caution to read into this too much but it could be an opportunity. lori: no shock or a sharp sell-off? inflation hasn't been a

factor over year. you're not concerned about the downgrade? what is the catalyst for the treasury market? >> if the fed does follow-through to remove the bond purchases, and that is a low probability. today's jobs report did not confirm that but not enough to convince the fed to stop buying bonds. but we still have slow growth. high-yield bond is the best place to be. yield is the name of the game. lori: think you so much.

melissa: in real life he is saving coffee. t38 or as neurosurgeon mcdreamy made the winning bid to purchase the chapter 11 protection company they beat out other bidders including starbucks pay nine point* $1 million to takeover tully's. 47 locations to washington and california employing over 500 people but you hope it is a good business decision. he has other partners. lori: he is trying to expand his own brand. what is his name? t30. melissa: what is his name? lori: you have been calling him mcdreamy all day. [laughter]

melissa: loss street does not like it that much. lori: gearing up for the next fight falling back into recession? the $64,000 question. ♪

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lori: market climbing ever so slightly higher. let's go down to the floor of the new york stock exchange. it has been 15 minutes since we last checked in with nicole petroleum. i know you're seeing a jobs report impact on the markets although it is tepid. >> that's right. jobs impact it was slightly better. that is good news. it is not terrible news. we haven't been too far off the unchanged line, 2013 we had our washington lawmakers avert the fiscal cliff and avoid disaster. that was our00 point day. since then we're not too far off the unchanged line. today is no different. dow jones is up 21 points at

13,412. one group, lack of participation would be some of the tech stocks. apple is big loser out of s&p 500 of the out of the 500, the number two loser. microsoft the biggest loser on the dow jones industrials. coinstar, changing of the guard there, ceo, down 4.3%. a few names are lagging this move. back to you. lori: nicole, thank you. melissa: in spite of the last minute fiscal cliff deal there is still plenty to worry about like the debt ceiling fight for example. wall street's fear index is sliding to the lowest level in three months. what is the vix trying to tell us? sandra smith is trying to tell us in today's trade. sandra? >> yeah, it is a bit confusing, melissa, right? you're talking about the fear in the marketplace about the looming debt crisis however the vix is showing no fear in the marketplace. it sold off 33% in the past three days. mark, you're expert in all things the volatility index, which the fear gauge has many people know it, why such a huge selloff when we

are facing a looming debt crisis? >> one thing to remember about the vix, it is 30-day duration. so it is looking out about a month. that is well ahead kind of the next, major, major crisis which we're looking at more like a 60 than 80-day time frame. options prices in the near term are telling us you know the market is not going to do much for the next 30 days or so. that's why i think we've seen such a crushing of the vix. all the news is out that is going to happen, in january and early february. >> so the fix is below 14 right now. it hit a peak of over 2 during the really peak of the fiscal cliff concerns. where are we going to do here? is this an indicator the stock market may turn around? a lot of folks use the vix as contrarian indicator for the stock market. >> what i think it is end indicator of we'll not doing something for a long period of time, 20, 30 days. will it stay below 14 forever?

probably not. i think between now and valentine's day it will hang between 14 and 17, that kind of a range. i think below 1 is a little oversold, but you know i wouldn't expect any fireworks anytime soon. >> all right. that is mark sebastian, guys. we are watching the vix right now at 13.77. unbelievable sell off, lori and melissa when i see it had been 22 before the turn of the new year. melissa: 33% in three days that is big decline. sandra smith, thank you very much. lori: we kicked off the new year with a market rally but my next guest expects it to be short-lived. steve wood is here to tell us what we can expect from the markets for the rest of the year. welcome to you. listening to the report on sandra on the vix you think we'll see a little more volatility. >> i do think so. lori: why? >> the fiscal cliff was not resolved, just postponed. two components dealt with, partly. taxes were dealt with and sequestration and spending has been postponed a couple

months. we have a lot of difficult decisions. the debt ceiling will be in february as well. there will be volatility as we approach. europe, not to say necessarily there will be negative or down year but there will be a lot of volatility what we think will be surrounding high single digits return in the equity markets. lori: this is the calm before the storm? you don't think the rally is short-lived but near term cycle? >> we got a big chunk in the first of the year if our estimates were right. it cab the calm before the storm. there is lot of mediocre information being priced in the market right now. you had the jobs data, the housing data which is slightly positive environment, no great shakes but grinding recovery we do not think there will be recession in 2013. that said politicians are working over time to mess things up. they're doing pretty good job as well. corporate earnings, housing, are surprising to the upside. kind of a mixed bag. lori: you're hitting all the fundamentals left all around town. talk about strategy. i know you like to diversify

glowly. how bullish are you on the u.s. compared to other global regions. >> we like the u.s. compared to europe is in lee recession right now. likely to be in recession for the balance of 2013. the u.s. compared to its competitors look good. dollar based equities we do like. emerging markets could have reasonably good performance in 2013 as well. they have been underperforming for a while but retraction in emerging market market economies could be --. lori: i'm hearing a lot of retirement strategists going into small cap emerging market funds, the outperformance in terms of those economies and u.s. and you're looking couple percentage points in performance. >> that's what we advise our clients too. we have inflation target 2 1/2%. if you need 5% withdrawal rate, that is 7% target you have to hit. that means multidiversified global strategy. lori: i have to ask you,

europe, you're very particular. north of the alps. >> south of the alp there. yes. lori: what are some companies north of the alps? >> i can't speak specifically to companies if you look in germany even though they're flat-lining in economy you're seeing great strong balance sheets. look at company --. lori: not ski resorts? >> not ski resorts. north of the alps is divider line with club med countries having a lot of structural problems and north which is more cyclical. if you're looking at germany, interest rates are negative in germany right now. deposits flood into their economy. it is very well-capitalized. euro is let cheaper than it would be without all these problems. they have companies north of the border bern fitting from this situation. lori: at no time, s&p at end of the-year high single digit submits. >> we think high single digits. 1500 is a good target. could be volatile to a path getting there. lori: steve, thanks. come back soon. melissa: the house overwhelmingly approved $9.7

billion in aid to pay for flood insurance claims from owners and businesses from your canned sandy. it was two months since the storm was hit. after it was originally delayed by house speaker john boehner my tri-state decision and it was moved to this morning. the bill placed won by 354-67 is expected to pass the senate with no problems. it will give more authority for the national flood insurance program to pay out over 100,000 claims. an additional vote is expected on january 15th whether to provide additional aid to cities and towns affected by the storm and some beyond those affected people would argue but we'll see. uncertainty rules venezuela. president hugo chavez due to be sworn in for another term next week but a spanish newspaper reporting he is on life-support right now. lori: all right. we were just talking about interest rates. big spike in rates since we heard from the fed the other day.

look at the 10-year yielding 1.93, just one basis-point move day but again we saw a big jump this week, more so than the last eight months. out the curve long bond is unchanged today. 3.12%. back after this.

lori: here is your fox business brief. securities & exchange commission has dropped its insider trading case against former berkshire hathaway executive david sokol. he told our own liz claman, he is quote thrilled the sec made the conclusion they did, end quote. exxonmobil says it will spend $14 billion to develop the hebron oil field

offshore the canadian province of newfoundland. they expect to get the project operational by 2017 with a platform delivering 150,000 barrels of oil each day. the construction project expected to create 3500 jobs. a february 19th trial date is set in the battle between retail giants macy's and jcpenney over martha stewart living. mace sieve's says it has exclusive right to sell martha stewart products in cook ware and dinner ware. that latest from the fox business network, giving you the power to prosper

melissa: you know that saying cash is king? the pope apparently thinks so. if you are planning a visit to the vatican leave your plastic at home. only cash will be accepted. for tourists look to go to the museum, buy something, bank of italy is taking this action because the holy city

has yet to fully comply with european union safeguards against money laundering. the vatican says it is a scramble to find a nonitalian bank to find electronic payment services. have to bring cash. i don't know. lori: it is worth it to see the sistine chapel. it is a wonder of the world. that's for sure. melissa: i think it is funny, no visa, no mastercard, they cut down on tourism. sign of the times. or platinum. weren't we talking about platinum on the business channel? melissa: there you go. lori: talk about the markets every 15. nicole is on the floor. knight capital. >> i hope there is an atm near the vatican if everybody has to pay cash. look at knight capital closely. we've been covering the story very closely. tom joyce was down on the floor. he chatted with him here. the stock lost 70% of the its value last six months. you may remember december 19th they agreed to sell them ofls over to their

rival getco. knight capital ceo tom joyce unloaded stock here, unloading 58,000 shares at $3.94 a share on december 31st according to a regulatory filing. he is still one of the largest shareholders. he has 1.6 million shares remaining. one of the reasons he did that was to cover some tax obligations. back to you. melissa: nicole, thanks so much. less than a week, hugo chavez is set to be sworn in as his third six-year term as president of vaenz venz. a spanish -- venezuela. a spanish newspaper says he is in induced coma and on life-support in cuba. he has not been seen since december 11th when he returned to havana for his fourth cancer surgery. this leaves the government of the western hemisphere's oil-rich nation in limbo. michael economides. university of houston. always a pleasure to have you. >> hello, melissa.

melissa: tell me how big of a deal do you think this is too the world of oil and how dire do you think this situation is? >> well, the direness is there for sure. this is going to be an end of a person, i'm not sure an end of an era. i think that chavez, chave chavezmisomo will survive with chavez. communism is alive and well in venezuela, bolivia, argentina. you will see this populism decidedly anti-american by the way because we're not taking any dynamic position in the area, to continue and it is affecting us because venezuela sells 75 billion barrels of oil. melissa: article 23 of their constitution says when elected president becomes permanently unavailable

prior to his inaugurationings, that is what we're talking about, there has to be a new election within 30 consecutive days. as we said he is due to be sworn in next week, but if he's in a coma, conceivably that can't happen as far as we know, although, i wouldn't put anything past anyone. but you would have to have an election within 30 days. i know he has said, this former bus driver, he tried to say this would be logical successor. i'm not sure everyone in the country supports that. it seems like this could suddenly come to a crisis level. >> you are right. but lodgic in venezuela has not been in prime quantity over the last several years. their law is exactly as you described and in fact if there were free elections, caprillas ran a pretty respectable campaign against chavez, the opposition leader, he may have a pretty

good chance. so really i can not with all certainty tell you. also different speculations from venezuela and of course anytime you have health issues such as this, i mean how many people are questioning here why the leader of an venezuela is supposed to be the richest country in the hemisphere is in cuba? melissa: right. >> that in itself is preposterous you realize. so --. melissa: let me ask you before we run out of time, what do you think is the worst-case scenario for oil prices? what should we be guarding against here? >> i don't think much. some of the things recently as you may have seen i suggest venezuela actually losing influence because american oil production is going up and of course china is over there to buy everything from everybody. so venezuela is no longer what it used to be. with proper management they should get themselves into

their rightful position but chavez wasn't going to do that anyway. so stay tuned. venezuela will play a role but it is not going to be what it used to be for sure. melissa: interesting. professor, thanks for coming on. >> thanks. lori: breaking news. shares of supervalu flying after our friends at dow jones here reporting cerberus, private equity fund, and the grocery store chain are close to a deal. cerberus would buy parts of supervalu and take a stake in the rest of the country. sources say deal not yet final. look at supervalu shares shooting up there. nice to be acquiree as opposed acquirer in some cases. have you heard about a trillion dollar coin and how it could save america's economy? sound like a bad joke but is it the solution to our debt problems. only emac can explain. melissa: 2012 was a record-breaking year for a

adell. she joins michael jackson in a very exclusive club. ♪ .

lori: to avoid the debt ceiling fight a odd theory is gaining ground and traction among economists. treasury can print a platinum coin to worth a trillion dollars and use the coin or coins to wipe out the government debt. for real? liz macdonald is here with emac's bottom line. is this like a myth or something? >> as you said it sounds like a urban myth. could quickly become one. by the way whose face would go on the coin? melissa: great question!. >> have to be a deceased person. ronald reagan? the joke it could be ronald reagan or john maynard keynes. melissa: that would be a good one. >> we have to de -- debunk this. using or minting platinum coins to pay down the debt ain't a good idea. the loophole the treasury is allowed to print unlimited commemorative platinum coins but can't do it with paper

or copper coins. you will ignite inflation when the u.s. dollar is devalued. when you print money you're not printing credibility some that the issue too. why not $100 trillion coin? currency market, precious metals market, would get a lot of volatility and got to tell you something. speculators would pour in there. treasury market volatility as well. the real important point is constitutional crisis. essentially congress has only power to spend. only treasury can say we'll print willy-nilly platinum coin and say it is worth a trillion bucks. the idea you mint the coin and then you walk over to the federal reserve and erase the federal reserve's u.s. treasury debt. got to tell you something, regional banks own assets at federal reserve. they will say wait a second we need trillions of dollars worth of platinum coins. so there is lot of debate

how this would work. you have to wonder would the u.s. credit rating dive to the junk status even if they tried to do this. lori: it is creative. if we go back to the gold standard would that make any sense. melissa: that is going opposite direction. >> you ask the question where is paul volcker? weighed in on bretton woods we delinked the gold from the dollar standard in the '70s which say some it ignited inflation. jerry nadler, representative from new york is for it. "huffington post". melissa: somebody started it. >> started in july 2011. melissa: about a month 1/2 ago. it has been making the round. >> so you started it. melissa: we started it. >> your face should go on the coin. lori: gold standard i think holds everybody accountable, but to your point it goes in the opposite direction. melissa: okay. emac, thanks so much. >> delighted. melissa: she is not rolling in the deep anymore. she is rolling in the green. for the second year in a row,

british beauty adele has the best-selling album. her albums sold $4.4 million copies. in 2011 she sold 5.8 according to nielson. she joins michael jackson in the exclusive of clubs of those with number one albums in back-to-back years. taylor swift led the way in the country genre with the red album that sold 3 million copies followed by care reunderwood. lionel richie, can you believe that had debut album and jason al dean. 1.65 billion units were sold. digital and physical albums. who knew people bought physical albums anymore. lori: naturalists. old school throw back. make as different sound. the detail in the recording process. melissa: okay. it has been on a downward trend. lori: i know. coming up is the stock market too focused on d.c. politics? lord abbett market

strategist milton miss rought at this says oh, yeah. he tells us what the market should be talking about with ashley. stick around. you turn for legal matters? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to handle your legal needs. maybe you have questions about incorporating a business you'd like to start. or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like to find the right attorney to help guide you along, answer any questions and offer advice. with an "a" rating from the better business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company.

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improve in december. so what if anything will get american companies hiring again? we are looking for answers. meantime, apple's stock, tumbling. another 2% today. as you can see, down to 528 a share. but, topeka capital analyst brian white says have no fear. it will turn around and hit 1000. hmmm. he will explain. he will be here as well. the airline inindustry has been the but the butt of jokes for years but, industry is looking strongest it has in years but what does it mean for us the passengers? we will get into that as well. time to look at stocks as we do every 15 minutes. nicole is down on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole, stocks posting modest gains, about as good as we can get. >> not bad, not bad, considering we had 100 point day on first trading day of the year of 2013. we're not too far off the unchanged line.

job report was pretty much in line. seems slightly better. it is going in the right direction. some people complain certain le not fast enough. american jobs need to grow quicker. we'll take it in stride. the dow jones industrials up 27 points at 13,418. we have news that has been breaking on supervalu and the private equity firm cerberus. it has been reported they are indeed close to a deal. look at that intraday chart. sometimes we avoid the intraday charts because they don't really tell you much. this one tells you something, right? cerberus may buy parts of supervalu and take a stake in the rest of it. you can see supervalu taking off. a moment ago it was up 11%. it is getting pushed around a lot. certainly a very big gain. want to look at eli lilly outlook of 2013. they're talking about product activity. they're talking about cutting costs. 2012 was a tough one for them. also the fact that some patents expired. with a good outlook we're

seeing stock popping 3 1/2%, outpacing other drug stocks. back to you. ashley: nicole, thank you. we'll check back in with you in 15 minutes. the white house claims our economy is healing but today's jobs report shows the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 7.8 percent. peter barnes in washington with more on this story. peter? >> that's right, ashley. numbers came in as expected and 155,000 new nonfarm jobs was about the pace we've seen on average for each month for the last two years. the white house and republicans ran with this morning's report. president's top economist saying it is progress but still not good enough but the resolution of the first part of the fiscal cliff battle extending the bush tax cuts for almost all families should help economic growth and job creation by keeping more money in consumers pockets. that should help consumer spending. now he says, republicans need to act on part two of the fiscal cliff, raising

the debt ceiling. >> one of the reasons why it is so important that congress resolves some of issues that were left unresolved in the taxpayer relief act is that the economy will do better if we address issues like the debt ceiling without drama. >> but republicans said today not so fast. they plan it use the debt ceiling as leverage to negotiate more spending cuts with the white house. speaker john boehner, house republican speaker, saying, quote, the house will pass real spending cuts, meaningful reforms of entitlement programs that are driving uhgs deeper into debt and a fairer, cleaner tax code. ashley. ashley: peter barnes, thank you so much. well, the december jobs report could definitely be described as lackluster at best and markets seemed to agree. our next guest says that the markets are harley even focusing on economic data anymore these days. it is all about what goes on in washington.

joining us milton ezrati, lord abbett senior economist and market strategist. milton, thank you for being here. we know the jobs report, ho-hum. what will it take and will we see real improvement when it comes to unemployment? >> i think washington has to stop jerking us around. they talk about these, the solution to the fiscal cliff or what little bits there. it doesn't add anything to the economy. it just saves people from concerns that they were going to go off the cliff. now we're only going off a portion of the cliff. we have at least three showdowns before now in march. i'm not taking sides in these, but each one creates uncertainty and it keeps the economy from growing. if you're a manager at a corporation, why are you going to hire when you don't know the lay of the land ahead? and that's been going on now for years. ashley: milton, you say the

one issue the market is perhaps ignoring is implementation of obamacare. what impact will that have? >> everyone is talking about the cliff, the debt ceiling and of course the sequestration that has been postponed to march. those are issues. as we get into spring, we're going to have to deal with the implementation of obamacare. the states have not been as cooperative about generating the ex-changes that is the heart of that piece of legislation. health and human services are going to have it do it. they do not have the public jet for it. they're going to come back to congress for more money. boehner has already said it will become a negotiating issue. i'm not sure even if they had the money that they have the talent on board to generate at leaat 25, perhaps, 30 separate state ex-changes that they're going to have to build. that is just part of the picture. it is going it be, it has opinion egg in order now, but it is going to become a bigger issue as we get into spring and summer again,

talking about washington instead of the economy. ashley: with regard to the markets, milton, we had double-digit returns last year. what are you expecting for 2013? >> well actually even though we're, we're almost in despair over what is going on in washington, we actually think the market is valued right now for something pretty ugly. so effectively a lot of the worst news has been priced in. i know it has done very well this week. people are relieved that we're not going to have enormous tax increases. the markets reflected that but still the pricing is extremely cheap. and as a consequence we look for 2013 looking a lot like 2012 with the market able to rise even if it doesn't get good news. just the absence of the worst news enables it to rise. we went through that for the last 12 months. we think it is likely to go forward for the next 12 months at least, unless of course there is some disaster. we think muddling through is more likely. ashley: you know, and to that point, milton, we've

seen continue to see money pouring out of mutual fund, going into fixed income. you're saying look, equities are a good deal. what do we see reverse in that trend or at least halting of that trend? >> i think sentiment is beginning to change. people are look back at 2012. they're looking back at longer term averages and seeing that equities have in the end returned to decent numbers over long periods of time and people are gradually returning to the market. i think one of the big signs we're seeing is enormous buyback by corporations. they're clearly telling us they think the stocks are cheap. they thought the stocks were expensive they would be selling stock, not buying it. i think this is going to be gradual turn. eventually it will become a stampede. that is probably the sell signal but right now we have a long way to go. ashley: we certainly do. we as us waiting on those good folks in washington. milton ezrati, lord abbett

senior economist and market strategist. milton, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. ashley: coming up we've been talking about the fiscal battle ahead. will republicans be able to force spending cuts in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling? that's next. plus don't file your 2012 tax return just yet. the irs might not be ready for it. gerri willis explains coming up. we'll get into that. first as we do at this time every day let's take a look how oil is trading, again reflecting the market's, well, modest reactions today, drifting slightly lower almost unchanged at 92.89 a barrel. we'll be right back. ♪

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ashley: the battle for the fiscal cliff is over. whew. let's move onto the next cliff. u.s. is set to hit the debt ceiling in about two months and the big question will the new congress do better with deadlines than the old once. i will give you an answer and my next guest is cautiously optimistic. here is allison frazier, from the heritage foundation. allison, thanks for joining us. you're cautiously optimistic. what the heck is that based on because i don't think there is any optimism when you're talking about congress? >> i think we have a breathe a little sigh of relief we made it through the fiscal cliff and very disappointed we had a major tax hike and

we didn't go over the cliff and nothing really, really bad happened. i totally does agree on the need for the tax hike. the simple fact that obama campaigned on it. he campaigned on a balanced approach. he got it. he got his tax hike. it is time to close the books on that. and what he now must deliver is the balance to his balanced approach in the form of spending cuts. that is why i am cautiously optimistic we will have some progress on that. ashley: you know, that is interesting because during the tax hike debate there was a theory, and it was, you know, said a lot, but the gop by giving in on the tax hikes for the fiscal cliff would actually have leverage on the debt ceiling. i don't see where the gop has leverage at all? >> let's take a step back here and think about what the debt limit is really all about. i think the debt limit is a necessary control to spending and borrowing in this country. what it is is an opportunity, if not a requirement and a

requisite for congress and really the american people to sit down and look in a very transparent and forward-looking way whether federal policies are sustainable and affordable. no one can argue that they are. we're in our fifth year, probably of trillion dollar deficits. debt-to-gdp ratio is almost 3/4 debt-to-gdp. 73% it was at the end of the fiscal year. there is no way our fiscal policy is sustainable and the debt limit is the opportunity not only to protect the full, faith and credit of the united states, everybody wants that to happen. ashley: right. >> but to make the major course correction this country must absolutely make. in a sense this is sort of our grecian moment, okay? we need to make a major course correction. we need to protect the full, faith and credit of the country but we have got to change direction.

ashley: let's not make any comparisons to greece. listen, the debt ceiling is going up. there is no doubt about that. but the president says what we need to use a scalpel, not an axe when it comes to spending cuts. how, you say optimistic, are we going it see the kind of entitlement reform and kind of spending cuts this country really needs? are you still optimistic on that front? >> well, remember, i said i was cautiously optimistic. you know, the simple fact is we have to have these kinds of things happen and they have to happen sooner rather than later. you know, you talk a lot or we heard a lot of coverage about all of the ceo's and in corporate america who are working with the president in order to pass a balanced deal. ashley: right. >> well, there was no balance to the deal. many of them were out front, out in front not just of raising taxes and that's exactly what they got, all their taxes went up. they were also out in front about really working hard to bring together coalescing

around entitlement reforms. ashley: right. >> that absolutely must happen. we have a number of broadly-supported bipartisan kinds of reforms that could be put together very, very quickly, implemented into a deal with the debt ceiling in addition to bringing on board some institutional controls to lock in spending cuts on target. ashley: it sounds --, i'm right there, with you, i don't know. based upon what we've seen so far, i don't know. i hope you are right. allison frazier, already out of time the thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> it's a pleasure. >> all right. cautiously optimistic. as we do every 15 minutes let's check on the markets now. nicole petallides on the floor of the nyse. nicole, a couple of companies reacting to rates changes. >> that's right. start off with citigroup hitting 52-week high. it has been to the upside. the banking index is to the upside. most of them have up arrows,

ashley. citigroup is up 55 cents. today goldman sachs added citigroup to the. it is certainly up side potential. they talk about restructuring and certainly they are liking what they are seeing. i want to look at lululemon. they make a lot of yoga ware, apparel. credit squeeze downgraded lululemon. the stock is down nearly 5% today see spite the fact they have had a good year. they are cutting it. lowered the price target from to 86 bucks. they are facing margin pressure. why one reason credit suisse cut to neutral from outperform. down to 71.47. back to you. ashley: nicole, thanks very much. we'll check back with you again in 15 minutes. well, guess what? it's time to make money with charles payne. this hour he has a stock that, i don't know that it has any holes in it but

we'll find out. >> yeah. allison, cautiously optimistic. ashley: i would say somewhat. based on what, that's what i want to know? >> krispy kreme. everyone loves those doughnuts. at least i do. i haven't had one in a long time. ashley: me neither. >> you remember when the stock was hot a few years ago. like a juggernaut. ashley: yeah. >> they had accounting issues and overexpanded. they are starting to come back. the stock is making a major breakout. trading three times average daily volume. >> based on what? >> i don't see news per se, that is what is baffling me. one item in a local paper in philadelphia that they reopen ad store that closed eight years ago. that is the story. the company overexpanded with bad management. things like they got their footing. i did this on one of the making money with recalls cha segments. this stock is a juggernaut, a juggernaut. listen to this. they beat the street street 55%, 10%, 50%, last three quarters. they're executing.

consensus is going through the roof. street is looking for 56 cents. three months ago they were looking for 32 cents. here are the red flags. already up 17% in 2013. there is some big insider sales. nevertheless i like this a lot. ashley: acquisition target maybe or partnership possibility? >> you know what i'm not sure. giving an example, a lot of traders still probably remember this, april of 2000 it was $9 stock. august of 2003 was $48 stock. it was an amazing juggernaut. it already made a big breakout. this week when it got above $10 that was a huge buy signal for technicians. not a lot of resistance where it is now and $12.88. and longer term it could go even higher. ashley: if they were making coffee like dunkin' donuts they would be off to the races. >> if they made a coffee anything like the glazed doughnut i would be off the chart. ashley: charles, appreciate it. coming up the irs releasing

new guidelines for your paycheck following the fiscal cliff deal. gerri willis breaks it down next. first how's the dollar moving right now as we finish out another trading week? it is kind of mixed. euro up against the dollar. the pound down overall. overall not a whole lot of movement. we'll be right back. at a dry cleaner, we replaced people with a machine. what? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it? hello? hello?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person /7, you need an ally. hello? ally bank. your money needs an ally.

ing. >> 22 past the hour i'm anna kooiman with your fox news minute. break being this hour, the senate passing superstorm sandy relief bill approved by the house earlier today. 354-67. all 67 no votes in the house were cast by republicans including former gop vice-presidential nominee paul ryan. former massachusetts representative barney frank has been out of congress one day and already he wants back in. the democrat telling bay state governor duval patrick he wants to be appointed to serve the remainder of john kerry's senate term when he departs to become secretary of state. president barack obama choosing supreme court chief justice john roberts it swear him in for a second term. roberts will administer the oath at the white house january the 20th and again the following day at the inauguration ceremony at the capital.

justice sonia sotomayor will adminer vice president joe biden's oath of office. those are the headlines. now back to ashley. ashley: anna kooiman with fox. anna, appreciate it. despite the looming fiscal cliff, the wall street is at lowest level in three months. what is the vix trying to tell us? sandra smith will tell us with the story in today's trade. >> a lot of traders are saying that this is the market telling us folks are pretty complacent what is happening with the fiscal cliff, about the looming debt crisis. they're not all together concerned which for traders that could be indication, contrarian, theory, we could see the stock turn around, from the big rally, look t vix index right now. janet, this is volatility index, for the technical watchers out there, this measures implied volatility on s&p stock options. for those who aren't sophisticated looking at these things, fear gain in the market.

higher it is more fear it is in the marketplace, the lower that index is, the less fear. over the past week there has been dramatic selloff in the vix over the past three trading days. the vix has sold off 37%. that of course tying in with the decision on the fiscal cliff. so ever since that was made, there has been complacency in the market. it is quite remarkable to see the vix now below 14 guys, when it was above this is very historical move for the market. back to you. ashley: certainly is. complacency. sandra smith at cme. thank you so much. >> thank you. ashley: irs wasting no time making sure employers with hold the right amount from the new year paychecks. ouch. that is after the social security payroll tax is going up from 4.2% to

6.2%. 6.2%. >> this will shock you. irs put out another notice. ashley: another one. >> the same day the irs is currently reviewing details of this week's tax legislation and assessing what impact it will have on this year's filing season tte irs will soon make available additional information because we don't know! can you believe that? ashley: oh my gosh. with irs, yeah. what is this going to do? obviously the payroll tax, it is definitely going to bite, isn't it? >> it bites everybody too. ashley: yeah. >> just not extremely wealthy. it is everybody up and down. if you make $50,000 you're paying additional thous dollars this year because of increase in payroll tax of 6.2%.

here is another thing people aren't paying a lot of attention to right now. the president said, hey i will raise taxes on people that earn 250,000. that's wealthy. 250,000 and more. and he is because that is the level at which personal exemptions and deductions will start to phase out. ashley: ah. >> so your mortgage deduction, your personal deductions, 3800 you take off taxes every year for your personal exemption, all of this, charitable giving, all at risk now for peel who earn more than middle income in this country. ashley: what will this do to the economy, gerry? >> i tell you i'm not optimistic. i think there will be less hiring. i'm not even talking to you about the obamacare tax increases but there are a myriad of tax increases people will experience day-to-day over next several months. as they do they will start making changes to the way they spend and what they do. i have to start making changes today. that is how impactful this is. ashley: yeah. >> i know a lot of americans

will be doing that. ashley: small businesses that operate as limited liability companies this ends up being funnel through on the higher tax rate into the personal income tax. all about jobs. where are the jobs going to be created when you're getting hit by this? >> payroll tax, expiration of this. remember, we had a big recession. we were trying to got people out of the recession so we give them a little break on the payroll tax. now, this is expiring. it is going away and hitting at exactly the same time these new income tax rates are hitting and all these other taxes on capital gains. on investments. you name it. you're getting hit. ashley: yeah. >> send an e-mail to ashley. he wants to know -- i'm upset. are you upset? ashley: it is awful. gerri, thank you so much. really appreciate it. of course you will be getting into this tonight, right? >> yep. ashley: all of it. you are fired up as always. catch gerri willis right here on "the willis report", 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on fox business. gerri, thanks very much. >> thank you. ashley: on deck, apple shares falling further below

their all-time high of $705 a share. right now, about 528 bucks. but topeka capital's brian white says he is keeping his $1,000 price target on the stock. he will be here to explain why. first let's take a look at some of the day's winners and losers. dow drifting higher 26 points. c. in. up 5%. dollar general up, 5%. we'll be right back.

ashley: after 30 past the hour, a check on the markets as we do every 15 minutes with nicole on the floor of the new york stock exchange. >> we are chatting about the market, talk about economic activity, starting off with the jobs report. what do you think, and how come we're not seeing movement either way? >> the adp was a spoiler. too much anticipation. the number that came in on monday with, the 150 number, but the adp had the whisper number down here, behaved higher because of that number, and we are disappointed so, we would be lower, quite frankly, but the bidding in the market, i feel, is based on the day that the

quantitative easing will not be cut off as quickly as we thought yesterday. >> the kool-aid continues, and as a result, the market continues. the dollar remains up. >> that's a function of the ten-year, and, also, the whole idea that the fed eventually has the idea of pulmoing -- pulling back that punch bowl. >> that's what i'm saying and why i brought it up with the push and pull of the markets. >> rising rate and inflation are not bad for the equities. there's money out of bonds, the rates increase from the 10-year, and that benefits equities. >> how do you feel about the market for january? i like it. obviously, there's a lot of worry. there's still the issues with washington and the like, but i still believe it or not foolish. >> bullish, we noted that, nicole, thank you for that. back to you in 15 minutes. apple shares extending the

recent slide, and now down 25% from their all-time high. what is it going to take for the company to turn things around? the stock point of view, brian white, senior analyst at topeka capital market. brian, i've seen analysts who say it could fall into the 300 range. you, meanwhile, maintain your thousand-dollar price target. why? >> well, i think, number one, the stock is very, very cheap here. trading eight times ex-cash, grows 92% a year for eight years. second thing, the market share is very, very small at 6%. this is a very innovative company, and we can't think about the next big thing. apple tv, but there could be something else after that. a lot of excitement still happening. ashley: it's a hard company to measure really, and some way, crushing estimates routinely, very tight lipped about the new

products. >> yep. ashley: is that changing under tim cook? >> well, i think what we are going to see is maybe product psych -- cycles get shorter. instead of an iphone every year, we could see something every nine months or less than that. what we said this week is we think new iphones will come out in may and june time frame. ashley: you know, you mentioned, of course, iphones and ipads, huge part of their revenue, but competition is getting, you know, i mman, look at samsung, doing very well, and that's the biggest challenge for apple is beating down the competition? >> they are really the only competitor, is samsung. look at the last few years, apple's grown stronger, samsung grows stronger. nokia is perhaps weaker, and hd is struggling. others did well in certain markets. ashley: looking at the numbers, samsung predicted to carve out

33% chunk of the market this year. that's up. apple shares up, 21% or 20% last year. you're saying, look, there's only two playerings here so there's plenty of food to go around for the competitors? >> yeah, it's a great place. there's only two players in the market in my view, and i think what we'll start to see apple do with the next iphone is that we're going to add colors. ashley: think it could be in the summer perhaps? >> a may or june. ashley: talk of an iphone mini, i don't know if you heard about it, but caters to the noncontract phone operators, $250 range allowing people to get the iphone experience. that's something that's good for apple, do you think? >> so we coined that term, when we put out our checks on what the next iphone is coming out, and we talked about, not only the screen sizes, but different price points, and, at the --

maybe not an iphone mini, but think about it that way. ashley: a smart move do you think? >> a very smart move because apple needs to expand the base. not everyone in the world is a high end smart phone user. if you have the cash she of apple, the quality of apple at a lower price, not cheap, but lower price point, you'll attract a lot of consumers. ashley: how much is riding, then, on apple tv? >> that will be the next big thing, i think; right? hopefully this year or next, and that is probably $100 billion market for apple, or a $200 to $400 billion market for apple. it's a big opportunity. mobile phones is still a big opportunity. apple is a big opportunity. it's not over. ashley: all right, very good, that's why you keep them in the thousand dollar price market. brian white, thank you so much for being here. >> i appreciate it. ashley: customers have problems with online accounts when they

tried to log on in recent days, and the reason? cyber attacks. e-mails 5,000 customers warning itraffic hits the website which is consistent with computer attacks. they have been working to block the traffic and maintain its own line and mobile sites to most customers, and the bank says no accounts or personal information has been hacked. all right, coming up, the fed wants significant improvements in the jobs market, but little sign of it in today's report. what's that mean for fed stimlouse ahead? first, a check at the ten and 30-year treasuries, and the dow's up 32 points. we'll be right back. [ male announc ] where do you turn for legal matters? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to handle your legal needs. maybe you have questions about incorporating a business you'd like to start. or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like to find the right attorney to help guide you along,

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case against the executive. told he is, quote, thrilled the ftc concluded that they did, end quote. online shopping this holiday season climbed 14% this year, but fell short of the market's initial estimates. shoppers started strong, but immediately fell back due to the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff debate. general motors reporting 69,000 trucks under its brands for the 2013 model year. the effect could cause a vehicle to roll away. that's the latest on the fox business network giving you the power to prosper. ♪

ashley: breaking news, oil

closing up 17 cents at 93.09, oil jumping $2.29. riding the markets higher at a 2.5% gain. the december jobs report is described as steady and modest, the next guest says the unemployment rate is stalling or backtracking in the months ahead. joining us now, julia coronado, chief economist for north america. julia, thank you for joining us. i think ho-hum is the best way to describe the latest jobs report. give us the good, the bad, and the ugly, do you think? >> the good news is we've seen resilience in hiring. it did not soften or slow down because of worries over the phi -- fiscal cliff so that's reassuring it's not that vulnerable to uncertainties. i think the bad news is that it's not really enough to bring down the unemployment rate or only very, very gradually so we're still not entering that

stronger phase of the recovery so that's the good and bad news. reason you mentioned things could get worse is we're about to bear the bankrupt of the rise in the payroll tax that should deliver a weak reading on gdp growth, very weak consumer spending in the first quarter of the year. hazard to see why businesses are going to accelerate hiring in an environment where their earnings have gotten squeezed and consumers step back so i think it delays any period of time when we could see higher -- step up to a higher pay. ashley: this does nothing, i imagine, to rash et down the qe machine? >> no, we had excitement with the release of the fed, but more disagreement on the committee than investors realized, but i think ultimately, fed policy will be removed by the economy,

and if we expect to get a rocky start to the year, the feds certainly is not going to take it off the accelerator any time soon. ashley: like europe, we need spending cuts, austerity measures if you like, but that's hard toot. -- hard to do. it's a dilemma. >> it's hard to strike a balance. we talked about the way, and certainly, many economists talked about the ways you can put in changes to the entitlement programs that lock in spending cuts down the road, and, therefore, avoiding some of the near term tightening that will derail the recovery, and i think most economists agree that's the right way to proceed is to put incredible things that reduce spending down the road, but minimizing the near term impact, i think, hitting every wage earner with a 2% tax

increase is not the way to go about things. ashley: there's been improvements with the economy, especially in housing. could housing lead the recovery and how soon could that happen? >> i think housing turned the corner and there was a nice con tin ration of the rebound penciled in for this year. i think housing is going to continue to be supportive. i think that's an important psychological change for consumers even if they feel their housing values have stabilized, they'll feel better so i think that is the good news, and that's going to help carry the ball forward even as the drag from the fiscal tightening intensifies so it's a bit of a passing of the baton, the private sector is healing. housing is an important component of that, but on the other hand, as you said, we have fiscal wood to chop before we can actually get out of the woods. ashley: exactly. way to go.

julia, chief economist north america, julia, thank you so much. >> a pleasure. ashley: all right, a quarter till now, time for stocks, going to nicole on the floor of the new york stock exchange. the best week in months. >> that's right. a lot of months. back to 20 # 11 when you take a look here, looking at the -- the dow, and the s&p, and we'll focus on two. s&p 500 and nasdaq are on track for the best week in 13 months. there's a nice chart, a one-week chart there for you, each gaining 4%, roughly, and, again, as you noted, back in 13 months, the dow ftion looking to be the best in seven months, so, certainly, the transports, talked about the transportation average in some of the transports in there at an 18-month high, and the russell 2,000, small caps doing very well also. those are names we have been -- the big picture of the indexes we watch, and doing exceptionally well.

coin star down 4%. updating the forecast, and so citi shares turned the hour around and a winner at 10.5%. back to you. ashley: good indeed, nicole. appreciate it. the next merger weeks or days away? leading amists weighing in on the possible american and u.s. airways hire next. first, look at today's winners and losers. not bad at all. stocks doing well. what about facebook? up 3%. expedia also up 2.5%. we'll be right back.

♪ ashley: the first payday of the year for many americans, and some people might be interested in paycheck sticker stock.

jeff flock is in illinois with more. jeff? >> i got to tell you, ashley, it is not shock. the shock is what people were informed this is going to happen because a lot of people didn't know about it. a couple guys, thee gentleman working in the apple store, and you don't know you were getting the first security payroll tax increase this pay period, did you? >> un aware. >> following the news? >> i have been. >> thought you were in the clear? >> yeah. >> here's the numbers, if you make $50,000, your payroll tax, social security hike is about a thousand dollars for the year. >> did not know that, was not aware. >> yeah. most of the people we talked to today are not aware of this, and, actually, if you make $100,000, it's $more. >> as a student, it's probably going to, you know, take a

couple bucks off, but i would like to school -- >> you go to school as well; correct? >> correct. as i go down the road, it will hit. >> the only good thing about this is people say it's money that goes into social security. do you have hope of collecting social security one day? >> no, not at all. [laughter] >> i don't think it's going to be there by the time i get to the age. >> funny how many young people we talk to that do not believe, ashley, that the money will be there for social security. taking it out of your paycheck regardless. ashley: wise not to count on it, but everybody is feeling it today. thank you so much from illinois. cold in illinois. appreciate it. a successful 2012, and this year could be better. a long expected merger between u.s. airways and bankrupt american could be finalized within days or weeks, and the consolidation could boost profit. how does it impact airline stocks, and what you pay to fly?

joining us is the managing director for imperial capital. bob, thank you for joining us. you think airlines have gotten smarter in the way they do business. exactly how? >> well, i think several years ago, they figured out that continuing to try to pack the large market share is not the answer, but the real solution is to have the amount of capacity you have to the amount of demand you have, and, so as a result, you have a lid on capacity for the last several years, and as a result, even with hundred dollar oil, airlines are making money. it's a different world than it was. ashley: be prepared for higher air fares this year. you say that's not true? >> well, i think moles people won't pay higher air fares, but what happens is that with a limited amount of new capacity or in a lot of cases, less capacity for coming out of the airlines, and with a little bit of growth in the economy and little bit of increased demands, what happens is the computer

systems that determine what kind of fares are available on any day and flight, they squeeze down the number of surplus seats that normally would be sold at $59 and $69, the cheap seats found late saturday night or tuesday afternoon, some of those. those seats will not be as pref lant, but if you travel on fridays, travel back on sundays, always busy, those fares won't be up that much, but you know what -- ashley: airlines have it over the barrel. a big country and not that flying is the only option, but at what point do people say enough of the nickel and diming all on the fees, not for a particularly pleases cant experience with the security, crowded planes, and when do people look for alternatives and there may not be that money? do airlines have to be careful and cognizant of that? >> well, i think there are not

many alternatives. fares go up there, there's the problem of killing demand. $450 fare and add 10% on to it, you can kill it, but the alternative is to stay home on the couch. ashley: that's true too. the emergencier of american and airways, could happen sooner than later; right? >> even if they announce something in the next few weeks as was recently reported as a possibility, you know, it's going to take several months because you have to go through guests approval, anti-trust, things look that, but i think, you know, it is conceivable that in the next ten days to two weeks, we can hear, you know, what the structure of the deal could be or if there's not a deal, but i think there will be a deal, learn about the structure, learn about, you know, potentially what might be offered to the holders of u.s. airway shares. we can learn that fairly quickly. i think the stock moves when that happens, not necessarily

waiting in the the end of the reviews and whatever, which, again, could take six months. ashley: last big merger in the airline industries out there? >> i think it is. maybe someday we get together, the labor unions agree it's okay to merge u.s. airlines, but that's down the road aways. this is really the last big one, and that cleans up and turns it more into a profitability point of view where we are headed in the right direction finally. ashley: always leery of airline stocks because they are a losing proposition. is that changing too, do you think, bob? >> well, it seems to be. there's always the chance that the geopolitical events could happen. several times we had what seemed to be a trend looking like things would be okay, and oil prices take on whatever, and then there's one breaking out or oil spikes and people run for the airlines, but on balance, in

spite of all of that, you know, even as they say with hundred dollar oil, airlines are making good money. ashley: good indeed. bob from imperial capital, bob, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> good to be here. ashley: from planes to cars, self-driving cars closer to reality. both toyota and audi confirmed they will demonstrate self-driving cars at the consumer electronics show in las vegas, and an audi official says they are showing up in auto driving car including one that allows the car to find a parking space and park itself without the driver behind the wheel. meanwhile, the prototype is a lexus with radar and cameras detecting cars and traffic signals and can drive in traffic without a driver. with or without a driver, good luck finding a parking spot in new york city. liz claman takes us through the last hour, ceo of american electric power, and the boss

over at buffalo wild wings, sandra smith talking beer, wings, and supports. yum, as the nfl playoffs about to get underway. "countdown to the closing bell" is next. ♪ [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...yoll bust your brain box. ♪ all onhinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪